AFP: Judge Gives Two Reporters One Week to Reveal Sources or Face Jail

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A judge gave two US journalists one week to reveal their sources to a grand jury probing the leak of a Central Intelligence Agency operative's identity or go to jail.



District Court Judge Thomas Hogan scheduled a hearing for July 6 at which time Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Judith Miller of The New York Times will have to testify or face up to 18 months in prison.



The judge gave lawyers for the two reporters until Friday to explain their failure to testify and to present mitigating information, and allowed prosecutors until Tuesday to respond.



The pair had argued that press freedom guarantees in the US Constitution shielded them from having to testify. But an appeals court rejected the argument, and the US Supreme Court Monday refused to hear the case.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050629/ts_alt_afp/usjusticecourtmedia_050629210111

[thinkingwoman]

1. CNN said 48 hours

Hmmmm. Wonder which is correct.

[amber dog democrat]

2. No sympathy

I hope they make lots of nice new friends. But what I don't understand is why Novak isn't in jail already.

[liberalnurse]

7. Me either????????

Some one needs to keep this real clear and simple for me too. It's convoluted as a get-out. Novak is the big ass here...he wrote the story! He should be the one they pressure???????

Obviously, he has an edge which protects him......I just can't figure it out.

[togiak]

13. Theory is that he sang already

Alot of people say that he gave up his source and now they are looking for confirmation from the other two.

[CookieD]

30. Don't know where you got that theory

A more likely scenario is that Novak took the Fifth.

[togiak]

39. Not sure how that would work

There is nothing for him to incriminate himself with.

But, the theory of him already spilling the beans is just that...a theory. Speculation.

[liberalnurse]

72. That makes a lot of sense.....

He already spilled the beans.......

[anitar1]

18. Anfd they promated it. This is about treason

as far as I am concerned. No protection for these swine.Apologies to swine. Miller is one of the worst IMO.

[mike_c]

26. I'd rather see traitors walk...

...than a free press turned into tools of law enforcement.

[unblock]

28. i'd agree with you except in this case the press are traitors, too.

those who knowingly revealed classified information, and, in particular, information that reasonably could put american and america-friendly lives in jeopardy, cannot use their press pass as a license to betray us.

[Hepburn]

65. Miller and Cooper were found to be in contempt...

... and no such allegations were made or founded against Novak. Miller and Cooper face jail time because they refused to comply with a lawful order of the court which compelled them to testify as to certain matters. These findings of contempt have nothing to do with the ultimate issues at stake in the GJ hearing, but have to do with the procedural matters of the GJ going forward on its investigation of the issue of the leak of Plame's name. That is a fine line to understand ~ but this is about the refusal to testify ~ regardless of WHAT the testimony may be about.

The elements of a contempt are:

1. A valid court order
2. The citee had actual knowledge of the court order
3. The citee had the ability to comply with the court order
4. The citee willfully disobeyed the court order

All 4 elements must be present for a finding of contempt. So when Miller and Cooper refused to testify, USAtty Fitzpatrick sought an ORDER from the court compelling them to testify. That is why they are going to jail. Their claim of privilege from testifying was NOT upheld by the court, they were ordered to testify, and they still refused. So the matter went all the way to SCOTUS who refused to get invovled and, thus, the order to Miller and Cooper still stands. The judge making the order has given them time to comply with the order (since it was on appeal ~ this IMO was the correct thing to do) now that there are no further challenges left to his order. They either fork over the docs and testify by whatever date the court has set, or they go to jail.

[liberalnurse]

73. But.....he wrote the story......

I still can't accept that Novak sits back and twiddles his thumbs through all of this.......

I'll keep working on this......:argh:

[dissent1977]

69. I have an idea what that edge might be

Could it be that he is an unrepentent right-wing shill who helps out the people who run the system whenever they need it? Novak is too much of a treasure to the fascists, that is why they don't go after him.

Of course Judith Miller was also a Bush shill before the Iraq war, but she is expendable to them because she does not get nearly the attention Novak does.

[berni_mccoy]

3. Whoo hooo! One Week Until Bolton is INDICTED!!!

Assuming of course, he IS the leak (which I think he is).

It'd be beautiful to see Bush recess appoint Bolton only to have him pulled on federal felony charges!

[clydefrand]

4. Why do you think Bolton is the source?

[berni_mccoy]

12. Nuthin but gut instinct

and a little tinfoil :tinfoilhat:

[Carla in Ca]

74. berni, I posted that guess yesterday on a thread

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1896890>

it is a name the WH would protect and that strong-arming, uh sorry, lunch Frist had with * last week demanding another vote just made me think it might be him. He would have to have been privy to some privileged documents, and that is where my hunch gets bogged down.

How did you come to that conclusion?

[Beam Me Up]

22. You might want to check out this Bolton, Downing, Plame thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3898738

[truthisfreedom]

5. exactly. recess appointment becomes recess indictment. what a great way

to celebrate the fourth of July! LET FREEDOM RING!

[Maccagirl]

6. I thought the money was on "Scooter" Libby

Cheney's Chief of Staff? Anyway...let's start counting- 7, 6, 5, 4...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. Bingo.

[Cha]

8. This is amazing to me..I didn't

know judymiller was involved with outing Valerie Plame. I just know miller from her lies in the NYT leading up to the bombing on Iraq.

And why isn't bob nofacts being given an ultimatum too?

Boy, this seems to be progress compared to how long we've waited for the Plame Case to have "legs"!!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. No jail for singing canaries.

[anitar1]

19. Novak sang and sacrificed them. One day he will get his. n/t

[dissent1977]

70. She wasn't involved in outing Plame

She did hear from presumably the same sources that Novak did that Plame was an undercover CIA agent, but she never ran the story. She knows who did make the leak, but she is refusing to name them.

[Justice]

9. it sounds like Time may turn over the information

Time has the information b/c Cooper wrote a story and his text, emails etc are on their system.

Miller didn't write a story (although I thought she researched one). Apparently The Times does not have access to her notes.

[PinkTiger]

11. I don't understand how they can indict her for this, since she didn't

write a story. I'm confused. I have to read more on this, because how do they know she has this information???

[jayctravis]

20. Basically, isn't she defying a subpoena? (n/t)

[bluestateguy]

10. It's time for them to obey the law

The court has ruled and now it's time for them to obey the law.

I've had it with Judith Miller's sanctimonious bitching.

[psychopomp]

16. I am cautiously optimistic

After waiting so long for the Plame case to see the light of day it looks like, finally, progress is being made. :D

[Gregorian]

17. I just have that sinking feeling again.

That the truth won't come out. Either it'll be lies, or silence. I can imagine Bush has already made his pardons. And if not, payments. I have no optimism anymore.

[mike_c]

21. I'm gonna take the other view and support Cooper and Miller...

...on this one. I don't know Cooper's work and I dislike Judith Miller intensely, but I believe in the right of the press to protect their sources, EVEN IF THAT MEANS PROTECTING A TRAITOR, or a terrorist, or a child molester, for that matter. A journalist always has the right to say "Sorry-- I won't serve as your mouthpiece and anything you tell me is on the record," but once they agree to confidentiality to protect their source they MUST maintain it. I hope Cooper and Miller hold their tongues, and I think it's wrong to send them to jail for it. We cannot have a free press if journalists cannot have confidentiality and protection from grand juries on that score. We give such confidentiality to doctors and lawyers without question-- and most states explicitly shield journalists from prosecution for refusing to break confidentiality. This is an abuse of federal power, IMO.

That is an entirely separate matter from the exposure of Valerie Plame. The person or persons who revealed her identity should be charged and tried. But if having their heads on a platter comes at the cost of a free and unfettered press, I'd rather they got off scot free.

[mitchtv]

23. I'm sure you are right, and the better half of me agrees,

but I can't stop salivating at the thought of JM in jail. I grieve for the unknown victims of this outing, who are probably dead today

[bread_and_roses]

24. My instinct is with you

Another time, this will be used against someone we want to protect. Isn't there some saying about a "free and unfettered Press" being the watchdog of Democracy? I think of all the times an anonymous source has been essential to uncover official malfeasance...

[mike_c]

25. put another way, the press should never become a tool...

...for law enforcement. That is utterly fascist, IMO.

[unblock]

31. well, the press being a tool of the government is exactly the problem

this case exists because the white house wanted the press to commit treason and at least a few members of the press corps are so corrupt and cozy with the government that they were happy to oblige. THAT is utterly fascist.

i agree that freedom of the press must be protected, but fredom of the press is not diplomatic immunity. reporters can't get away with murder, nor can they paint a bulls-eye on undercover agents and claim immunity just because they're reporters.

[yodermon]

29. Nope.

This one is really a no-brainer, and the corporate media continues to spin the situation so skilfully that even rank & file DUers are falling for it.

Courts have ruled, time and time again, that there are some scenarios in which journalists may be compelled to reveal sources. This situation is no different, which is why every court that hears the case rules against Cooper/Miller (and why the USC didn't bother to hear it).

In this case, as soon as Judy Miller heard the information that "Valerie Plame is a CIA agent", she became A MATERIAL WITNESS TO A CRIME. Period. What's even more maddening is that this wasn't a leak containing information about a crime -- the leak itself WAS the crime.

Comparing this to a whistleblower case is just laughable.

[Doremus]

34. Well said.

This issue strikes at the heart of a free press.

Cooper & Miller may be despicable, but they didn't out Plame, Novak did. He should be in jail for that crime alone.

[stickdog]

36. There is no legal precedent for allowing reporters to shield law breakers

by refusing to testify before a grand jury. None.

[kostya]

67. Read post 29. This is not an issue of source confidentiality.

[stickdog]

35. So if you agree to confidentiality and the guy on the other end of line

says he's going to murder you, then you can't tell the police who was calling?

Sorry, but outing a CIA agent is a crime in and of itself no matter who you out the agent to. And in this case, at least, it's a crime that served NO public interest whatsoever. Finally, the argument that protecting the criminal who committed this crime serves any public interest whatsoever is extremely tenuous at best.

[mike_c]

37. oh come on-- anyone can contrive situations...

...that place fundamental principles in conflict. I call that the "nazis at the door" argument because pacifists are always being challenged with "you mean if there were nazis breaking down your door...." Let's take a foray back to the real world for a moment.

Perhaps Cooper and Miller should be charged with revealing the identity of an undercover CIA agent. That's a crime, and an appropriate charge if they did that-- I didn't read their articles so I don't know what they said or didn't say. But that's not what they're being charged with as far as I'm aware. They're being charged with knowing who told them Valerie Plame was an agent but refusing to reveal their source. They are not being charged with the crime you suggested was appropriate-- and I agree with you if they committed that crime-- they're being used as tools in a grand jury investigation seeking someone else-- their source of information. And I think the press should refuse to play that game, and that a society that values a free and unfettered press should support that decision.

[stickdog]

38. No they didn't break the law, but they're obstructing justice by not

revealing who did.

I still don't understand how protecting the confidentiality of a criminal trumps protecting the confidentiality of a deep cover covert intelligence agent.

Note that if the source in question was drawing attention to government or corporate malfeasance or corruption in any way, shape or form, I'd have a lot more sympathy for your argument. But I'd be campaigning to change the law to protect such a source, not relying on a long dead and dismissed construction of the First Amendment.

What happened here was that the EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATION IN POWER committed a FELONY that compromised NATIONAL SECURITY by attempting to use the power of the LAP DOG CORPORATE PRESS to STIFLE DISSENT. Somehow I doubt that the First Amendment was written to protect the right of high ranking government officials to commit felonies to stifle free speech.

[robertpaulsen]

66. One more time: SCOTUS SET THE PRECEDENT IN 1972!!!

I've posted this multiple times on several threads. I'm going to keep posting this until DUers get the message.

This is from John Dean:

Finally, if the confidential information relates to criminal activity, the U.S. Supreme Court said in 1972 (in Branzburg vs. Hayes) that should a grand jury investigating the crime need the information, the journalist must turn it over — despite the freedom of the press guaranteed under the 1st Amendment.

No reporter can enter into an agreement that violates that law. Rather, an agreement of confidentiality is subject to it. The so-called news person's privilege, just like the attorney-client privilege or a president's executive privilege, is a qualified privilege. When a judge holds a reporter in contempt for violating the law, that judge is merely upholding the law of the land.

more...

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-sources6feb06,0,6080347.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary

Hope that clarifies what this is really about. Miller and Cooper are breaking the law. They should go to jail!

[VegasWolf]

27. Reporters are too free with all this unnamed sources rumor spreading.

Throw the suckers in jail and get Novack at the same time.
Who needs innuendo and "leaked" stories the Bush cartel uses
to smear people without getting their hands dirty. If a source
has something to say, then stand up and say it and carry responsibility for what you do. The mainstream press is a joke
these days.

[tsuki]

32. And the Grand Jury is different, HOW?

[VegasWolf]

33. What ? nt

[Moderator]

40. kick

[dooner]

41. 2 Reporters in Leak Case Given 48 Hours (Washington Post)

2 Reporters in Leak Case Given 48 Hours to Argue Against Jailing

By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 30, 2005; Page A02

Two reporters told a federal court judge yesterday that they are prepared to spend four months in jail rather than answer questions about their confidential government sources, and the judge said that he may order them incarcerated as soon as next Wednesday.

<snip>

Yesterday, Judge Hogan questioned the reporters' assertions that they are keeping a promise not to identify a confidential source. In appellate court filings, Fitzgerald has indicated that he knows the identity of Miller's source and that the official has voluntarily come forward.

"The sources have waived their confidentiality," Hogan said. "They're not relying on the promises of the reporters. . . . It's getting curiouser and curiouser."

<snip>

Novak has refused to comment on whether he cooperated with Fitzgerald. Yesterday, in an interview on CNN's "Inside Politics," Novak said he is still barred from talking about the investigation but said he will write about it when it ends. He said he thinks the facts will surprise people.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062902832_2.html

[The Doctor.]

42. This cannot be let go...

"The bullshit piled so high, you needed wings to stay above it."

[nostalgicaboutmyfutr]

43. It was Plames husband who oute her!!!! EOM

[Fiona]

51. Huh?

What do you mean? Robert Novak outed her.

[AllyCat]

44. So why don't the sources just sing?

One really has to wonder what is worse than 4 mos. in jail. I think it would be a good investigation to uncover that information, should they refuse to talk and hit the slammer.

But the sources...if they have waived confidentiality, why don't they just come forward? Maybe they are in the know and feel confident that the reporters will take the fall. Playing cat and mouse with Miller and Cooper. I think they are Bush insiders, way up the food chain, and they know they won't have to talk no matter what.

Edited: Yikes! I meant Cooper, not Fitz.

[AllyCat]

45. You know, this really begs the bigger question...since when is our

media so terrific at their jobs that they would go this far to protect a source, but not actually report the freakin' news????:grr:

[NVMojo]

49. yep, their silence on NO NEWS is defining ...

[AuntiBush]

46. Will We Ever Know the Truth... Ever?

Agree w/your thoughts.

[dooner]

47. I don't get it either...

Sure hope all of this becomes clearer real soon. I'd like to see somebody held accountable for this crime.

[darkism]

48. I admire that they are sticking to their promise.

It's what a good journalist should and would do.

I do not admire, however, what they did in the first place. They should be jailed not for refusing to reveal their sources, but for aiding criminals by helping to out Plame.

[cestpaspossible]

50. Judith Miller in jail.

I'll be popping a cork when that happens...

[Loreths]

53. Save the cork...

for when the man who is actually responsible for treason is actually accused of that crime. I don't know why Bob Novak isn't being brought up on charges.

[cestpaspossible]

56. Judith Miller deserves to suffer for her complicity in selling the

lies that led us into war. I will revel in my schadenfreude and no one's gonna stop me.

[in_cog_ni_to]

62. I agree.

That wench and her WMD stories were unconscionable. She needs to SUFFER. :grr:

[Blasphemer]

52. This makes no sense...

If the supposed source has already squealed, what would be the point of protecting someone who has no interest in being protected? The only thing I can figure is that the source(s) who has come forward is lying and they are not only protecting the actual source but the liar as well.

[stickdog]

55. Yes. If they were protecting themselves they could just take the 5th,

They must know that the whatever patsy Novak and BushCo has foisted on Fitzgerald is a phony.

[lfairban]

57. For not making sense, you seemed to have hit the nail on the head.

Maybe that is what this means:

"Attorneys for Miller and Cooper did not respond directly. They have said the investigation appears to have changed from a probe of whether officials identified a covert agent to whether they perjured themselves in testimony to prosecutors. The latter, they said, does not justify jailing reporters."

[stickdog]

54. The First Amendment was not written to protect the rights of high ranking

government officials to commit felonies that compromise national security in order to PUNISH the families of those who dare dissent and STIFLE free speech.

"This case is not about a whistle-blower," Fitzgerald added. "It's about potential retaliation against a whistle-blower."

[ngGale]

58. Novak is the one who needs to sing, he's the only one who...

wrote the name of Valerie Plame. Although, I have no love lost on the media - they are only putting the Dems in jail. Meanwhile, Bush could have just fired the leaker, but he needs Rove and Scooter.
It wasn't a leak, DC said it was more like a hose pipe at the time.
Cooper and Miller will go to jail, Novak could have become another "Deep Throat." I've not been able to look at his face without wanting to....:puke: since this happened. Bushco is going to get away with treason...Big Dog couldn't get away with a B/J.

[Skittles]

59. someone please explain to me how Novak escapes accountability

I cannot stand Ms. Miller but this whole thing just stinks

[nolabels]

60. Sanctimonious ceremony to protect Georgie's limp dick

George Bush don't have rigid bone in whole body. He and the the other stooges around him are right in the fat of the whole mess here but don't even have the balls to pick up the phone and tell the Attorney General, the MR Okay-to-torture guy of a need to drop the charges. I now hope this festers to come back around and bite them all in the ass

[in_cog_ni_to]

61. Well??? Will they sing

or go to jail? I know I've heard Miller say she's willing to go to jail. What will they do?

[rateyes]

63. Why would they only have to spend four months in jail?

I thought that a judge could hold a person in contempt of court until they complied. (I'm having a senior moment here, coming up with the name--but the woman in the whitewater probe spent 18 months, until the judge finally let her go in the knowledge that she was not going to lie for Kenneth Starr).

[ElectroPrincess]

64. Oh,

"but the woman in the whitewater probe spent 18 months, until the judge finally let her go in the knowledge that she was not going to lie for Kenneth Starr"

You silly viking!
LONG JAIL terms are only for DEMOCRATS. :P

<friendly tease>

[wishlist]

68. Time Mag announced it is releasing Cooper's notes- will comply

Time Mag and Cooper are complying with court order per this article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4639333.stm

[Supersedeas]

71. Judge Hogan is in the center of the hurricane that's coming.